345 – Catastrophe (6)

Warrior. In fact, if you can get his cooperation, there is nothing more solid than this.

In the countless works of art I’ve seen so far, there have been many different types of heroes, and among them, there were villains who were heroes in name only, or ordinary people who were too weak to be heroes. But anyway, that hero right now… is strong. Much stronger than me.

I don’t know why such a guy is acting as an administrator in the tower, but wouldn’t it be easier to turn the administrator into an ally?

“Secret? What are you talking about?”

The warrior asks again while chewing on a snack while lying on a chair. As you can see from the guy’s reaction, I am not yet strengthened. Since the hero trait has not been activated, it means that I look extremely weak to the warrior.

“Where’s my secret? I’ve been here all day. Oh, let me tell you a secret. I thought I liked dogs, but I like cats more these days. I think I’ll get one. Okay? Go now.”

A warrior waving his hands as if chasing away bugs. I expected this kind of reaction. So what I’m going to say from now on is a prelude.

“I am a regressor. I can turn back time and retain my memories.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a hero. I’m going to save the fucking world. Go now.”

“Tomorrow. I will gain tremendous power. It will not be of my own free will.”

I’ve been thinking a lot. Should I reveal my regression to the warrior? Just looking at the case of the old man on the 15th floor, it’s not wise to reveal my regression to the strong. If I were normal, I wouldn’t have taken this gamble.

“… A crazy guy has arrived.”

“If you wait, you’ll find out.”

But a few facts led me to believe that I could trust the warrior, or at least that he was not friendly to the tower.

First of all, there are no angels on this floor. In this type of ‘release’ floor, there are usually always angels to guide you, but on the contrary, there are only obedient soldiers here.

Also, the appearance of the 29th floor was close to a battlefield, and the soldiers said that there was a being called the ‘Demon King’. The connection between the Demon King and the Hero is obvious. Yes, this world is definitely the world where the Hero originally lived.

Above all, the warrior is strong. He is really, really strong. If he has bad intentions, he can wipe out all players and everything. He is a dangerous element, an unexploded bomb, so to speak.

Even if we look at Cheonma’s case alone, excessive force that does not fit that class causes variables. If Cheonma, who was not perfect, was like that, what about a warrior?

If I were an archangel, would I just leave a bomb like that on one floor? If a warrior surrendered to an angel, wouldn’t I have taken away his power?

‘Who sent it?’

Finally, the phrase I heard when I was dying from the hero, ‘Who sent you?’ It implied that there was a force that could threaten the hero’s life, and that they could exert influence within the tower. Who could it be? Could it be other than an angel?

So my conclusion is that angels and warriors are not very close. They may even be enemies. Or what? There aren’t many options to consider right now.

“Don’t bother me and go. I have a lot to do.”

“Yes. See you tomorrow.”

I spent the day in the prepared lodgings, leaving the warrior behind, who was opening a new bag of snacks with his hands in the air. After a day, the familiar pain started again. After calming down the rampaging magic under Jiwon’s care, I went back to the warrior’s tent.

“How is it?”

“…”

“Do you think this is the power that is suitable for the 29th floor at this point?”

This time, the warrior did not hide. He confidently showed up and looked at me from his usual desk. He did not spray a lot of magic power like before to pressure me, but rather sat still as if he was there and not there.

However, unlike during the day when he would eat snacks in a disheveled posture, he was now glaring at me like a beast in the darkness with his eyes gleaming. I could no longer sense his once-large soul. It was clear to my senses that there was nothing there, but he was sitting there, observing me.

“You’re a regressor.”

The warrior asked in a low voice. I nodded and sat down in the nearest chair.

“Is this a familiar concept?”

“…okay.”

Since the warrior flinched when he said the word ‘return’, he has not trembled at all while speaking. There should be some small movement depending on breathing and mouth movement, but he sits still as a stone.

“… So what are you trying to say?”

“Please help me.”

Now that I’ve come this far, I’ve decided to open everything up. I’m betting that the warrior is trustworthy. Or at least that he won’t tell the angels.

“therefore…”

Let me briefly explain the power of my hero trait. Let me tell you that the other guys revealed my identity without my permission, and as a result, my identity was revealed to all of Earth’s people, and I gained this excessive power.

“… I’m full.”

The warrior showed something that could be called ’emotion’ for the first time. If laughter is an emotion, then it is an emotion.

“To me, this just looks like the tantrums of a spoiled child. So what kind of help do you need?”

The warrior asked back with a cold tone. The help I want has actually been decided.

“29th floor. Does it really take 3 days to break it?”

“… No. I can pass it in one day at my discretion.”

After saying this, the warrior nodded as if he understood everything.

“Is this why you asked me to tell you my secret yesterday?”

“Yes. You are quick.”

The plan is simple. The warrior tells me a secret. Not a very fatal secret, but one I have no idea about.

Next time I regress and tell the secret to the warrior again before the President reveals my identity.

What happens then? It’ll be like a regression cliche, ‘How did you do this…’. From there, I just have to smoothly connect to ‘You already told me this information, and I’m a regressor~’. That’s what I mean by a set routine.

The warrior said that he could clear me in one day, so now I just need to hear a proper secret.

“First of all, it’s impossible.”

As the warrior touched the table with his index finger, a complex string of characters appeared in the air. Each letter moved independently, emitting a mysterious golden light, giving off the impression of being ‘sacred.’

“Would you like to find out?”

“…no.”

“This is a contract for me to stay on the 29th floor.”

As the warrior lifted his fingers from the table, the mysterious string disappeared again.

“I guess you get the gist. It’s not that I don’t say anything, it’s that I can’t say anything. Here, I’m just a ‘warrior.’”

“… Hmm.”

The method used by Michael Jeter, Dok Soo-hee, and the president. Contract. They say it’s all prepared through contracts, so there’s nothing to say.

In a world where you can restrict other people’s actions with your powers, I understand that it’s strange not to have proper restrictions. I also understand that the guys I’m dealing with aren’t stupid, and they’re all prepared. But from the perspective of someone who’s directly affected, it’s fucking frustrating. You can’t say anything, and the contract takes care of everything, so it’s frustrating.

But when I think about it, this warrior guy is particularly strong, and he seems to know a lot of things… I think that makes sense. Okay, let’s just say there’s nothing we can do about it.

I still have a plan B.

“Then how about this?”

“… Accompanying regression?”

Direct companion regression. The warrior can return to the past while retaining his memories.

What if the warrior changes his mind? What if he hits me in the back of the head? This guy is already overwhelmingly strong. The last episode proved that he can kill me if he wants to.

Of course, there is a big difference between betraying someone while knowing that they are a regressor and just killing them. If you think about it logically, it is obvious that it is much more beneficial to make them your ally than to turn them into your enemy. Why bother soaking a regressor when there is one right next to you? You can gain more by being nice to them and acting like a tongue in your mouth.

So, of course, I thought the warrior would accept my offer.

“I refuse.”

“…What?”

“Go now. I’m not interested.”

The warrior shook his head in surprise. I demanded further explanation, but he simply gave the order to leave silently.

Why? What went wrong? Did I make a mistake? No?

Jiwon approached cautiously, leaving me behind in my confusion.

“…Junho. Don’t be like that…”

Memories would flood back to me right away and I would be confused. But I steeled my resolve as I watched Jiwon try to comfort me first.

“…There are still three plans left.”

There is still hope. And the most likely one is that.

“Jiwon-ah. Why don’t you try climbing the tower by yourself?”

The way to do this is to use Choi Ji-won.